THE MICHIGAN DAILY Cleveland Orchestra Presents Concerts For Public Schools 35,000 Students Heard 19 Programs Last Year; System Widely Copied Twenty years ago, at its very in- ception, , the Cleveland Orchestra ,established a :close alliance with the: public school systems of the city and its residential suburbs and that first year gave a number of evening con- certs in high school buildings for pu- pils and their parents.. This past year 19 concerts for chil- dren and young people were given in Severance Hall with an attendance of 34,549, and four concerts of this type were given on tour. For the past eight years, the music appreciation classes of the public schools have been based upon the ,pograms played in the Educational Seres of the Cleveland Orchestra under its associate conductor, Ru- dolph Ringwall. The supervisor of music appreciation, Lillian Luverne' Eadwin, prepares the material whici is printed and distributed to the fourth, -fifth, and sixth grades, -and to junior and senior high school students who are eligible to attend these special day-time concerts. Every child has at least 10 study periods on the programs and com- posers. Then once a year, under' the direction of the Women's Com- rmittee of the Cleveland Orchestra, a: contest is held in Severance Hall atc which school teams compete in mu-} sical appreciation and recognition oft instruments, works, and composers for divisional and personal awards of banners and medals. So popular has this become that adults enter the tests just for fun, without any hope of even a ribbon award. The system has been studied by music leaders from all over the na-' tion ' and from foreign countries and is widely followed today. Thousands of children have passed through the portals of the home of The Cleveland' Orchestra and have continued to show interest in the work of the or- ganization upon graduating from school. Today the project embraces not only Cleveland but nine subur- ban cities as well. There has grown up a pattern of ideal behavior among school children as a result of these concerts and be- cause the music has been selected to appeal to their years and knowledge, they are alert and quiet listeners. They are taught according to the theory thattmusic is an individual ex- perience involving direct exposure to music itself and intensified by a back- ground of knowledge. The Cleveland Orchestra has not confined this interesting and valuable contribution to public education to its Piatgorsky Known As*greatest Cellist Gregor Piatigorsky was born April 17, 1903, in Jekaterinoslav. His extra- ordinary and precocious talent caused him to be selected first violincellist of the Imperial Opera at Moscow at the age of 15. He was already well on his way to a brilliant career in Russia when the Revolution came, and the Imperial Opera disbanded with the fall of the Imperial rouse. Piatigor- sky made his way to Berlin where, al- though unknown and poverty-strick- en, he entered a competition for posi- tion of first cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by the great Furtwangler. He was suc- cessful, and soon became a featured soloist. Presently outside engagements be- gan to pour in, and Piatigorsky found his fame spreading through- out Europe. Finally he was forced to resign from the Philharmonic to devote himself to concert appearances. His fame soon became international, and his reputation grew to as great proportions on this side of the Atlan- tic as on the other. Today he is gen- erally recognized for what the Cleve- land Press calls him, "The greatest living cellist." own home city, but has presented 127 children's concerts in other cities during its 20 years of touring on the concert stage. But Prima Donna Doesn't Share Other Stars' Love Of CookingOwn Meals Swing addicts will be pleased to learn that Kirsten Flagstad, greatestl Wagnerian soprano in the world to-! day, numbers herself among their ranks. The celebrated diva listens to' Goodman. Dorsey et al. on the air whenever she has time. She is also very fond of movies and often goes to two the same evening, even when there's a double feature. Her favorite star is Greta Garbo, but she also likes Jeanette MacDonald, Gary Cooper, William Powell axd Fred Astaire. Although many of her opera sic colleages make a hobby of coo'cu'g their own meals, Miss Flagstad dcLs not care for the culinary art except as consumer. "The Germans ceok because they do not enjoy food pre- pared by others," is the way she ex- plains the passion of other prima donnas for preparing their own late meals. When she is singing : ne cats' only one full meal a day. She eats' what she likes without following any diet rules. Miss Flagstad's personal life is dis- tinguished by its lack of ostensation. She does not even travel with a maid. Kirsten Flagstad Likes Swing Music, Movies And Solitaire, KIRSTEN FLAGSTAD 1- £ She packs her own suitcase and dresses herself, even during perform- ances, unless she has a quick change to make, in which case she has the: wardrobe mistress to help her. TheE only break in her simple routine comes at the conclusion of each per-! formance, when, if things have gone' well, she rewards herself with a blf bottle of champagne. If she is not' satisfied with her singing she denies herself even this little extravagance.3 Although fond of American food' and particularly of squab chicken, she misses the fish dishes of her na- tive Norway. One of her Y avorite combinations is a herring and cacum-' ber salad to go with roast beef. For breakfast she enjoys a slice of toast spread with anchovy paste. A chief diversion of Miss Flagstad's is solitaire. A chance remark to a newspaper reporter that she lied this amusement brought a deluge of letters from fans suggesting numer- ous varieties of the game. Some of them were so intricate that they mde her dizzy to read, even though she is no novice at complicated card gang s. Twelve make up her present reper- tory; she says this is as many as she can conveniently remember. Often after a performance she playa soli- taire until the small hours of the Six Soloists, Foii r Ensembles Comning (Continued from Page 1) concert of the season Feb. 27. First violincellist of the Moscow Imperial Opera at 15, this artist has convinced American as well as European audi- ences that his instrument can be as: sensitive and expressive as the violin.1 He has also served as first violincellist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orches- tra. The Roth String Quartet, which scored ian immediate triumph in its appearance here last year, will return for the final concert on the program March 9. In its ten year career the quartet has gained a reputation as "one instrument played by eight hands." It has been a particular fav- orite with college audiences in its series of triumphant tours in Ameri- ca. The group has proved so popular in this country that all four members, native Americans, have become natur- alized American citizens. Early Hofmann Programs Discovered After Search Many programs of tale earliest, con- certs of Josef Hofmann were discov- ered as a result ofdthe widespread publicationof the desire of Anton Hofmann, the artist's son, to obtain copies. Included were programs of the remaining 17 concerts the 10-year- old prodigy gave in 1887, the year of his debut, but only two of the pro- grams from the debut itself were un- earthed, one in the files of the New York Public Library. One of the programs found actu- ally antedated the debut, however. It was of a private recital given for the press at Wallack's Theatre the after- noon of the day of the first public ap- pearance. morning, until the music that is stil racing through her head stops and she can go to sleep. The prima donna has a lucky piez. which she always carries with her. i: is a 50 centime piece which she found the day Artur Bodanzky and Gatt-Casazza heard an audition it a hotel room in Bayreuth in 1934 and signed her for the Metropolitan. Sh had the coin, which she found at hei feet as she was about to begin singing set in a bracelet and has worn it ever since. Iturbi's Genius Brought Fame In Early Years (Continued from Page 4) field marshal's baton was carried in the knapsack of every soldier. Iturbi has long contended 'that there is a conductor's baton up the sleeve of every musician. So far. as he himself is concerned, for years he has been studying the great symphonic scores, attending the rehearsals of famous conductors, analyzing and memoriz- ing the vast orchestral repertory. His chance came in the spring of 1933. He was in Mexico City, en- gaged for 20 piano recitals in six weeks. His success was sensational. The public was in the palm of his hands. It was then he seized the op- portunity to step from the keyboard to the podium. After the first con- cert the newspaper "El Universal" announced: "In music the life of our times divides itself from today into two great chapters: before and after Iturbi." A dozen performances followed culmina..'g in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. A permanent Or- chestra Iturbi of 103) men was or- ganized which Iturbi vill direct again next year. Returning to New York in the sum- rner Iturbi was invited to officiate as guest conductor of the Philhar- monic Symphony Orchestra at the Stadium Concerts. He made an im- mediate and profound impression; as r a result was offered the honor of di- recting the closing concert of the sea- son. IPianist or conductor, Iturbi is al- ways the complete artist, no matter what the medium of his interpreta- tion, no matter what the period of his music. In the classic, the ro- I mantic, or the modern, he is the mu- I sician's yardstick, the critic's delight, the public's idol. True to himself and to his music, his art is-all things t to all people. MARINEE IDOL TIBBETT Lawrence Tibbett has made several d movies in the past few years. His e earliest was "The Rogue Song," which r he followed by "The Prodigal," "New Mo'on," "Cuban Love Song," and oth- r ers. His best known hit was "Under Your Spell. A THE CHORAL UNION PRESENTS (_' k. I LAWRENCE TIBBETT, famous American I baritone, will be heard here October 27. In I both branches of his art he looms with a gleam- ing brilliance. His glorious voice, perfectly schooled thrills the listener as he has, doubtless, not been thrilled before. Lawrence Tibbett . . . YEIHUDI MENUHIN, violinist, favored by the power which controls our destinies, was gifted above most mortals; that gift, wisely de- veloped until its possessor is no longer a prodigy of startling manual skill, but an artist whose sensibility and musical intellect equal his techni- cal resources. -Boston Globe. Mr. 'Menuhin will be heard here February 15. YeHudi Menuhin SIXTIETH ANNUAL SERIES ". ' Iy ? nI i KIRSTEN FLAGSTAD "GREATER THAN EVER" is the verdict of the press on the incomparable Kirsten Flagstad. Current feeling about the First Lady of the Opera is voiced by Oscar Thompson of the NewvYork Sun who says "There is reason to ponder anew the rare good fortune of a generation privileged to hear singing of splendor" I 1 1,